Portland tech firm loses execs

The top Portland executive at New Relic quit Monday amid an executive shakeup and diminished outlook for one of the city’s largest technology employers.

Chief Technology Officer Jim Gochee was one of New Relic’s first hires and a key reason why the company made the unusual decision to base its engineering department in Portland shortly after its founding a little more than a decade ago.

Gochee was a close friend and former colleague of New Relic’s founder and CEO, Lew Cirne. Gochee lived in Oregon and didn’t want to move to the Bay Area to run engineering when Cirne tried to lure him to work at his startup, so the company put its engineering offices in Portland and put Gochee in charge.

On Monday, New Relic announced that Gochee and Chief Revenue Officer Erica Schultz had resigned. The company named board member Michael Christenson president and chief operating officer.

New Relic’s technology helps clients track activity on their websites in real time. The company has well over 300 employees at its downtown Portland office.

Strike shuts down General Motors

DETROIT — More than 49,000 members of the United Auto Workers went on strike Monday against General Motors, bringing more than 50 factories and parts warehouses to a standstill in the union’s first walkout against the No. 1 U.S. automaker in over a decade.

Workers left factories and formed picket lines shortly after midnight in the dispute over a new four-year contract. Negotiations continued Monday in Detroit after breaking off during the weekend. Union spokesman Brian Rothenberg said the two sides have come to terms on only 2% of the contract. “We’ve got 98% to go,” he said Monday.

GM issued a statement saying it wants to reach a deal that builds a strong future for workers and the business. The automaker said Sunday that it offered pay raises, U.S. factory investments resulting in 5,400 new positions, higher profit sharing, “nationally leading” health benefits and an $8,000 payment to each worker upon ratification.

Trump announces Japan trade deal

President Donald Trump said Monday that he had reached a trade deal with Japan, but provided no details of its terms including whether he had agreed to rule out imposing tariffs on Japanese automobiles.

“I am pleased to report that my Administration has reached an initial trade agreement regarding tariff barriers … with Japan and I intend to enter into the agreement in the coming weeks,” the president said in a statement released by the White House.

The statement came less than a month after Trump had announced an agreement “in principle” with Japan.